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Daniel W. BURSCH
ISN Captain 1st rank;
NASA Astronaut
BIRTH DATA AND PLACE: July 25, 1957, Bristol, Pennsylvania,
USA, but considers Vestal, New York, to be his hometown.
His father, Dudley Bursch, resides in Stuart, Florida.
His mother, Betsy Bursch, is deceased.
EDUCATION:
Received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the
United States Naval Academy in 1979 and a master of science
degree in engineering science from the US Naval Postgraduate
School in 1991.
MARITAL STATUS: married to Roni J. Patterson, has four
children.
SPECIAL HONORS:
Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Navy Commendation
Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal, NASA Space Flight
Medals.
One of Distinguished Graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy
and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
HOBBIES: tennis, softball, windsurfing, skiing, and woodworking.
EXPERIENCE:
Upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1979, he
was designated a naval flight officer for service at Pensacola
Naval Base, Florida. After initial training as an A-6E Intruder
bombardier/navigator (B/N) he reported to Attack Squadron
34 in January 1981 and deployed to the Mediterranean aboard
the USS John F. Kennedy, and to the North Atlantic and Indian
Oceans aboard the USS America. In 1984 he attended the U.S.
Naval Test Pilot School. Upon graduation from the School
he served as a project test flight officer flying the A-6E
Intruder aircraft until August 1984, after which he returned
to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as a flight instructor.
In April 1987, Bursch was assigned to the Commander, and
participated in deployments to the Indian Ocean aboard the
USS Long Beach and the USS Midway. Designated an Aeronautical
Engineering Duty Officer (AEDO), he attended the Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey, California, from July 1989 until his
selection to the astronaut program.
He has over 2,900 flight hours in more than 35 different
types of aircraft.
Selected by NASA as a candidate astronaut in January 1990,
Bursch became an astronaut in July 1991. He worked in the
Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch, working
on controls and displays for the Space Shuttle and Space
Station Programs; as Chief of Astronaut Appearances; as
a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control
Center. A veteran of three space flights, Bursch has logged
over 746 hours in space.
On September 12-22, 1993, Bursch took his first space flight
as a mission specialist of the Discovery crew (STS-51).
Mission duration was 236 hours and 11 minutes.
From September 30 to October 11, 1994, he took his second
flight as a mission specialist of the Endeavor crew (STS-68)
with Space Radar Lab-2 (SRL-2) in the shuttle cargo bay. Mission
duration was 269 hours and 46 minutes.
On May 19-29, 1996, he took his third space flight as
a mission specialist of the Endeavor crew (STS-77) with the
Spacehab module in the shuttle cargo bay. Mission duration was
240 hours and 39 minutes.
Assigned to the fourth crew scheduled to live on the International Space Station.
October 2001
Based on NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center materials (USA)